2006 CT Senate Debate: on Foreign Policy

Joseph Lieberman: North Korean missiles were provocative, but don’t over-react

A: The North Korean act of firing those missiles was a provocative act. We should take it seriously. But we should not overreact to it. The fact is that the Bush administration in the last five and a half years has had an inconsistent and ultimately unsuccessful policy toward North Korea. And when I say inconsistent, sometimes saying that we would talk to the North Koreans in the six-party talks, sometimes saying we would not.

I think we are a strong enough nation that the one thing that hasn’t been tried either by the Clinton administration or the Bush administration is to talk directly to Kim Jong Il. We don’t lose any options if we do that. I wouldn’t do it now, because I wouldn’t reward his provocative act.

The danger is Kim Jong Il will sell these things to anybody who will buy them, including terrorists. That’s why it’s time for tough diplomacy and, I believe, economic sanctions against this regime.

Ned Lamont: Biggest threat to US is rogue nation with nukes

A: The biggest threat to the US and world peace is a rogue nation that has nuclear arms capability, and they can sell that to terrorists or potentially launch. And North Korea fits that description. I know the Bush administration called this provocative and not an imminent threat, but I think it’s the most serious threat facing the US today.

As a senator, I would get Republicans and Democrats together. I would get them behind closed doors. I’d give them real intelligence. I’d explain the severity of the situation. I’d explain it to the American people. I’d let them know the importance of what we’ve got to do.

Obviously, we can’t work alone. China, South Korea, and Japan are so key to everything we have got to do in North Korea. And working with them in a constructive way, with a constructive dialogue, we have got to get Kim Jong Il off of that murderous path that he’s got. Pres. Bush has got to get it right this time.